No research? No problem: India’s booming market for fake patents and research papers

Earlier this year, a young academic in Pune received an unusual email from a professor at a private engineering college in Secunderabad, Telangana. The subject line read: “Golden Opportunity to file a Patent in your name”. Attached were three PDFs, listing nearly 200 “inventions” across different engineering domains.

The offer was as simple as it was startling. Each entry came with eight blank slots, where aspiring academics could insert their names as inventors. Want to be listed as the lead inventor? Just type your name under Column 1. No research required. No contribution needed. Just a straightforward payment based on how prominently one wants to be featured.

“My contribution here would be nothing, apart from paying a fixed amount. They use the money from all the ‘inventors’ to file for a patent,” says the academic, who holds a PhD from an IIT and now teaches and reviews ethics journals.